Beyond Cotton Promotion: Build Relationships with Brands
January 21, 2014 With this year’s theme of “New Frontiers” for the Cotton International Annual edition, we think of recent developments in American Pima cotton that have and are changing the demand, production and viability of this cotton for the future. However, more generic cotton promotion on a global basis is also needed.
The international cotton industry must do much more to make cotton a fashionable and desired fabric for apparel and home fashions. Other fibers are gaining in prominence and acceptance. Some of this is because competitive fibers are doing more promotion, while the international cotton community isn’t doing enough to tell consumers about cotton.
American Pima cotton has a long and proud history in the U.S., beginning with the famous Sea Island cotton that was grown in the southeastern portion of the country in the late 1700s until the early 1900s. Sea Island cotton was Extra-Long Staple (ELS) cotton, a barbadense species that is genetically connected to the existing varieties of American Pima cotton that are currently grown in the U.S.
ELS cotton has also had a history of struggling to survive being grown in this country. Sea Island cotton, while in great demand for a short period of time, met its demise due to the limited markets at that time for such high-value cotton and later due to the boll weevil. Besides that, the variety suffered with seasonal growing problems in the country’s southeastern region. American Pima came on the scene in the early 1900s, primarily due to industrial demand for tire cord from major companies such as Goodyear and Firestone. This was especially true during World War 1 when demand increased and Egyptian ELS cotton was not available. From the mid-1920s to the 1970s, demand for American grown ELS cotton was mediocre at best with less than 100,000 acres grown in Arizona, New Mexico and the El Paso area of Texas.
New and improved varieties of American Pima that became available starting in the 1960s have changed the landscape for American Pima cotton. Varieties that could compete with foreign grown and handpicked ELS cottons made American Pima desirable to foreign textile mills. For the past 30 years the major shipment of American Pima has been to the much larger foreign cotton markets. Demand has increased significantly, as has total acreage and production.
The variety improvements resulted in improved fiber properties for American Pima. These advances, in addition to having an organization in place to conduct promotional and marketing programs, were the keys to making American Pima a viable and profitable cotton in the American West and Southwest.
Supima is working to do more than just promote American Pima cotton. The goal is to become a preeminent name in the fashion world by building important relationships with brands, educating consumers as to the importance of finer cottons, and introducing the newest generation of designers to cotton, and particularly to Supima cotton.
From major luxury brands such as Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren, to fast fashion companies like Uniqlo and down to the small boutique labels, Supima is working to help the industry and consumers better understand the fabrics they use. Some of the activities include taking brands, retailers and journalists to view the cotton harvest in the heart of California. This serves as an enlightening adventure, but also illustrates the process that goes into producing superior cotton each year.
From the cotton harvest to the finished garment on the runway, Supima works to further its relationship with the fashion industry at its annual Supima Design Competition. This contest brings editors, celebrities and the fashion elite together to showcase Supima cotton and its attributes with a runway show during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. The New York show is a platform where finalists from four elite design schools show what they can create with ingenuity using Supima cotton to create world-class fashion.
Although Supima only promotes American Pima cotton, we understand and appreciate the work that organizations like Cotton Incorporated and Cotton Council International (CCI) are doing to raise the awareness and attributes of cotton to retailers/brands and consumers worldwide. If cotton doesn’t have a fashionable and desirable image to consumers, then the challenges for Supima and the Supima brand become more difficult. That’s why I’ll emphasize once again that other producing countries must also step up and help in the overall generic promotion of cotton.
After all, “A rising tide raises all boats.”
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